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\nYesterday I wrote about this case in which a 26-year-old CEO, Pava LaPere, was murdered in her own building by a 32-year-old man with a long, violent history. As Ed pointed out in the headlines, Jacob Billingsley was arrested last night, which is good news.
However, reading over some of the news stories today, I really wonder if police aren\u2019t partly to blame for what happened here. It turns out that Billingsley was already wanted for a violent rape which happened on Sep. 19, just three days before the murder of LaPere. But police decided not to inform the public about that crime.
Billingsley was also suspected of raping a woman days before LaPere\u2019s death and was already under police surveillance, authorities said Thursday. Police, however, declined to tell the public about the incident because they believed it was \u201ctargeted,\u201d stirring up criticism that LaPere\u2019s death might have been avoided.
In that incident, Billingsley is accused of slitting a woman\u2019s throat and raping her \u201cseveral times during the night\u201d before tying her up with duct tape and lighting her on fire, court documents show. Billingsley is also alleged to have handcuffed the woman\u2019s boyfriend and set him ablaze.
The woman told authorities she heard a loud banging at the door on Sept. 19 by a man who said he worked for the building\u2019s maintenance department.\u00a0(Billingsley was a maintenance worker in the building.)
The man, who was wearing a mask, then kicked in the front door and pointed a gun at her, documents show.
This was an extremely violent crime along with an attempted murder. Police found Billingsley\u2019s backpack at the scene and he was immediately identified as the suspect because a) he worked there and b) his victims survived. So why didn\u2019t police notify the community? They say it\u2019s because the rape and attempted murder was targeted.
[Acting Police Commissioner Richard]\u00a0Worley defended the police department\u2019s decision to not publicize its search for Billingsley immediately after the September 19 crimes \u2013 which critics say might have helped get him back behind bars before LaPere was killed.
\u201cThe first incident on Edmondson Avenue was not a random act. Had it been a random act, we would have put out a flier right away, saying this individual was on the loose, committing random acts,\u201d Worley said.
\u201cWe know pretty much why he went into the house on Edmondson Avenue, why he committed those acts. He worked at that building, he was familiar with the victims. I\u2019m not going to say too much more because I don\u2019t want to talk bad about victims. But he was there for a reason,\u201d Worley said.
The acting police chief said investigators had been tracking Billingsley and didn\u2019t want to issue a flier too soon, which could prompt the suspect to flee.
So they were more worried about Billingsley seeing the warning and running than they were about the public getting a warning he was out there. It was only after LaPere\u2019s murder that they changed strategy:
\u201cAs soon as we realized he had committed an act that seemed to be random \u2026 we put the flier out,\u201d Worley said. \u201cAnd just as we thought, as soon as he saw the flier, he tried to elude capture and turned off all devices we were able to track him on.\u201d
To be very clear, the first rape happened on the 19th. Billingsley then followed LaPere to her home and convinced her to open the front door for him three days later on the 22nd. But police didn\u2019t know she was dead until Monday the 25th. So it was three days after her murder that they finally changed strategy and came out with the blunt warning that Billingsley would kill and rape again given a chance. That warning might have helped if it had been given right away.
I don\u2019t think the police explanation makes a lot of sense for one reason. Billingsley had previously been convicted of rape and given a 30 year sentence in 2015. He was a tier 3 sex offender required to register for the rest of his life. So the moment he committed another violent rape, whatever the reason, police should have altered the community. Their failure to do that may been the difference between LaPere opening the door for him that night and not doing so.<\/p>\n